Scandinavian investors focus on Vietnam’s seafood industry

An Iceland-based seafood company has bought back a catfish processing factory in Vietnam. Other Scandinavian investors have also taken first steps to jump into the industry.


According to Agroinfo, a farm produce market survey firm, Portunas is seeking the opportunities to support the sustainable development of Vietnam’s seafood industry. Pálmi Pálmason, Chief Executive Officer of Portunas, said that Vietnam’s total annual seafood output is about 4 million dong and the output may be even higher if Vietnam applies the exploitation and processing technologies which are being applied in Iceland.


Some analysts believe that Vietnam can increase its seafood output by two folds if it applies specialized production methods.


Vietnam’s seafood industry proves to be lagging behind that in Iceland, which makes Icelandic people believe that they have great opportunities in Vietnam once they apply their modern technologies in the country


Vietnam is clearly rich in aquatic resources, especially in aquaculture, the field that Portunas wants to invest in.


Catfish (tra and basa fish) and shrimp are considered the two species popularly farmed in Vietnam. However, Marine Farms, a Norwegian company, decided to invest in a cobia production factory in Vietnam. The company now owns a cobia production line in the central region which has been operating since 2005.


The white-meat fish are mostly exploited in Asia and warmly welcomed by the US importers. Marine Farms has also begun farming scads, a very popular fish species in Asia.


The production of bivalve aquatic species has also been developing well. The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) last week said that the clam and scallop growing areas in Mekong Delta provinces is believed to increase by three times in the next four years, and by four times in the next 9 years.


Earlier this year, a Danish investment group, joining forces with a Vietnamese commercial bank, provided a financial support to build and install necessary equipment at a collagen making factory, which will use the byproducts from the tra fish processing of Bianfishco.


Another Danish company has also revealed that it is considering setting up a factory in Vietnam in order to take full advantage of the Vietnamese cheap labor force. The factory will process cod and pollock products for re-export.


Before making investment in the seafood processing industry, foreign investors have also been injecting money in the aquaculture and aquatic feed production.

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